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Email Marketing · head to head

Sendy vs Zoho Campaigns

Sendy logo

Sendy

Email Marketing

Self-hosted newsletter app bought once for $69 that sends through your own Amazon SES account

From
$69/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zoho Campaigns logo

Zoho Campaigns

Email Marketing

Email marketing tool with a genuine free tier, priced by contact count once paid

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Zoho Campaigns has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Sendy free updates run only to the next major version, so the one-time purchase is really one purchase per major release and the long-term cost is not zero.; Zoho Campaigns template design quality and out-of-the-box deliverability reputation tools are less polished than specialist platforms such as Klaviyo or Campaign Monitor.
  • They diverge on capability: Sendy covers One-time licence, Zoho Campaigns covers Drag-and-drop email builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sendy and Zoho Campaigns actually diverge.

Attributes where Sendy and Zoho Campaigns differ
AttributeSendyZoho Campaigns
Starting price$69/one-timeFree
Pricing modelOne-time purchasePer month by contact tier once on a paid plan
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, LinuxWeb

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Email Marketing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Sendy

  • One-time licence
  • Amazon SES delivery
  • Multiple brands
  • Autoresponders
  • Segmentation
  • Bounce and complaint handling
  • Reporting
  • Client access

Only in Zoho Campaigns

  • Drag-and-drop email builder
  • Zoho CRM integration
  • A/B testing
  • Advanced segmentation
  • Send time optimisation
  • WhatsApp and SMS add-ons

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Sendy

  • A publisher with a large list sending frequently, where a hosted platform bills by subscriber count month after monthnot Zoho Campaigns
  • An agency managing newsletters for several clients who each get their own brand and login under one licencenot Zoho Campaigns
  • A business that must keep subscriber data on its own infrastructure for privacy or contractual reasonsnot Zoho Campaigns
  • A developer wiring signups from a custom application into a mailing list without paying platform API feesnot Zoho Campaigns

Zoho Campaigns

  • A small business with under 2,000 contacts wanting a genuinely usable free email marketing tool rather than a crippled trialnot Sendy
  • An existing Zoho CRM or Desk customer wanting email marketing that syncs natively without a third-party connectornot Sendy
  • A growing list needing to scale from 500 up to 500,000 contacts within one vendor's pricing laddernot Sendy
  • A team wanting WhatsApp or SMS as an add-on channel alongside email from the same vendornot Sendy

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Sendy

  • Free updates run only to the next major version, so the one-time purchase is really one purchase per major release and the long-term cost is not zero.
  • Deliverability becomes entirely your problem: SES gives you a raw sending pipe and no warm-up guidance, reputation dashboards or deliverability consultants when a campaign starts landing in spam.
  • Amazon SES requires production access approval and will suspend accounts on high bounce or complaint rates, which can take a list offline mid-campaign with little warning.
  • The template editor and design tooling are basic next to Mailchimp or Klaviyo, so anything visually ambitious means hand-written HTML email.
  • You own the server: PHP upgrades, database backups and patching are yours, and an unmaintained Sendy install holding a subscriber list is a data breach waiting to happen.

Zoho Campaigns

  • Template design quality and out-of-the-box deliverability reputation tools are less polished than specialist platforms such as Klaviyo or Campaign Monitor.
  • Advanced segmentation and dynamic content are reserved for the Professional tier, so mid-sized lists needing that capability face a real price step up from Standard.
  • WhatsApp and SMS are separate paid add-ons rather than included channels, so a genuinely multi-channel campaign costs more than the base email price suggests.
  • Its main structural advantage, native Zoho ecosystem integration, does not benefit a buyer using a non-Zoho CRM or helpdesk, who gets no more from Zoho Campaigns than from a specialist alternative.
  • Support responsiveness reflects Zoho's broad, lower-touch model across its whole portfolio rather than dedicated email marketing expertise.

Pricing, plan by plan

Sendy

$69/one-time
  • Sendy licence$69/one-time
    • One-time purchase, no subscription
    • Free updates only up to the next major version
    • Unlimited lists, subscribers and campaigns
  • AI Assistant bundle$39/one-time
    • Optional add-on, listed at a discount from $49
    • AI writing assistance inside the campaign editor
  • Installation service$79/one-time
    • Optional one-off setup by the vendor
    • For buyers who do not want to configure hosting and SES themselves

Zoho Campaigns

Free
  • Forever FreeFree
    • Up to 2,000 contacts
    • 6,000 emails per month
    • 5 users, basic templates and reporting
  • Standard$undefined/month
    • Starts at 500 contacts, scales to 100,000
    • Unlimited email sends
    • A/B testing and priority support
  • Professional$undefined/month
    • Starts at 500 contacts, scales to 500,000
    • Unlimited email sends
    • Advanced segmentation, dynamic content, custom roles and webhooks

Which should you pick?

Choose Sendy if

  • You need one-time licence.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want amazon ses delivery.
Sendy review

Choose Zoho Campaigns if

  • You need drag-and-drop email builder.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want zoho crm integration.
Zoho Campaigns review

Questions people ask

Is Sendy or Zoho Campaigns better?
Neither clearly leads. Sendy starts at $69/one-time and Zoho Campaigns at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sendy or Zoho Campaigns?
Zoho Campaigns has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $69/one-time for Sendy and Free for Zoho Campaigns.
Does Sendy or Zoho Campaigns run on more platforms?
Sendy runs on Web, Linux. Zoho Campaigns runs on Web.
Can I use Zoho Campaigns for free?
Yes. Zoho Campaigns has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sendy starts at $69/one-time.
What is Sendy best used for?
Sendy is most often used for a publisher with a large list sending frequently, where a hosted platform bills by subscriber count month after month, an agency managing newsletters for several clients who each get their own brand and login under one licence, a business that must keep subscriber data on its own infrastructure for privacy or contractual reasons, a developer wiring signups from a custom application into a mailing list without paying platform api fees. Of those, a publisher with a large list sending frequently, where a hosted platform bills by subscriber count month after month and an agency managing newsletters for several clients who each get their own brand and login under one licence are not what Zoho Campaigns is typically brought in for.
What can Sendy do that Zoho Campaigns cannot?
Sendy covers One-time licence, Amazon SES delivery, Multiple brands, Autoresponders. Zoho Campaigns covers Drag-and-drop email builder, Zoho CRM integration, A/B testing, Advanced segmentation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Sendy: What does it actually cost to send?

The licence is $69 once. Delivery is Amazon SES at roughly $1 per 10,000 emails, plus your own hosting, so a 50,000-contact weekly newsletter costs a few dollars a month to send.

Zoho Campaigns: Is the free tier good enough for real use, or just a trial?

It is a real, ongoing free tier for up to 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month, not a time-limited trial.

Sendy: Are updates free forever?

No. Updates are free up to the next major version, for example within 7.x. Moving from 7.x to 8.x is a paid upgrade.

Zoho Campaigns: Does it integrate with non-Zoho CRMs?

Yes via Zapier and other connectors, but the native, no-extra-fee integration advantage is specific to other Zoho products.

Sendy: Do I need to know how to set up a server?

Standard PHP and MySQL hosting is enough and the vendor compares it to installing WordPress, but the SES side needs AWS configuration. An $79 installation service is offered if you would rather not.

Zoho Campaigns: Are WhatsApp and SMS included?

No, they are separately purchased add-ons alongside the email plan.

Sendy: What happens if Amazon suspends my SES account?

Your sending stops until you resolve it with AWS. There is no alternative delivery route built in, and this is the single biggest operational risk of the model.

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